After The Fall
by Miranda Shadowind
Summary: An inside look at what became of the Returners after Kefka moved the statues and the world got an ugly facelift.
1. Locke

After the Fall Part 1: Locke  
Miranda Shadowind

_"Got nowhere left to hide...the fight in me has died...So I must wait for the sunrise.."_ -Richard Marx, "Wait for the Sunrise"  
  
Locke Cole groaned from both physical and emotional pain. It was cold and damp around him, but where was he? Was he dead? Had the fall of the Blackjack and the end of the world been only a dream? No...nothing that devistating could be merely an illusion... He tried to sit up, but pain shot up his left leg and he yelled.  
  
"Easy there, Laddie. Yer not quite healed yet," a soft Irish-type lady's voice told him.  
  
"Celes..." Locke murmered, though he knew right away that it wasn't her at his side, accent or no accent. She'd slipped from his grasp and fell from the Blackjack's broken edge on that fateful day the world's balance was shattered.  
  
He felt a cold, wet cloth being pressed on his forehead, and another on his left leg. Slowly he opened his eyes, meeting the gaze of a kind-faced old woman. Beyond her, he could just make out the half-lit inside of a cavern.  
  
"Oh, so yer finally awake are ye?" the woman asked him.  
  
Locke slowly nodded. "Where am I? How long have I been out?"  
  
"Quite a few months, good sir. We found ye half dead two miles to the west of here. That be where Nikeah lies. Can ye remember anythin'?"  
  
"'Name's Locke....'We'?!" Locke struggled to sit up, and a young man propped him up against the cave wall. "Did you find anyone else? Around my age?"  
  
"Nae. 'We' be myself an' a few others of Sedaia, a town that now be gone since the destruction..."  
  
Locke looked down. "They're really gone...Terra..Edgar...Celes..." The wet cloth on his forehead slid down into his hands. It was his trademark dark blue bandana that he wore to keep his sandy blonde bangs out of his eyes. He groaned softly, wrung it out, then tied it around his forehead.  
  
Again, he tried to stand, but his left leg still hurt badly. He put his right hand on it and mumbled "Cure..." Immediately, his leg glowed and the pain stopped.  
  
Locke then stood up and headed outside, where the land ended in a beach. He looked up at the cave cliff, considering jumping off to end it all...It would stop the torturous pain inside, and he would be with his friends again...with Celes and Rachael...His will to live hanging by a thread, he started climbing up the side of the cave.  
  
"You're the Great Locke Cole aren't you?" a male voiced called out behind him.  
  
Locke turned his head to face the voice's owner. It was the same man who'd helped him sit up minutes before. "Was...Doesn't matter now...all my friends are dead...I might as well join them.." He turned his head back around and continued to ascend the cliff.  
  
"You know, there might be a way to bring them back...at least one of them anyway..."  
  
Locke, now standing on the edge of the cavetop/cliff looked down. "Don't say that just to try and get me down. It won't work!"  
  
"No really, I mean it! You've heard of the legendary Phoenix, haven't you?"  
  
"Yeah, what about it?"  
  
"They say somewhere there lies a treasure that holds the same power the phoenix used to rise again from the ashes. Surely a master treasure hunter like you could find it, if you're up to it.."  
  
Locke sat down on his perch and thought this over. _The power to restore life..._ It might not save all of his friends, but then again, he didn't know where their bodies lay. Rachel's on the other hand, he did, all too well. That settled it. He would find the Phoenix treasure for Rachel's sake, or die trying.  
  
"You got a map?" Locke asked the man as he climbed down to the ground with slightly renewed hope.  
  
"Won't do you any good since the world's changed."  
  
Locke nodded and re-entered the cave. He found his backpack near where the old woman had tended his wounds and slung it over his shoulder. To her and the man outside, he simply said, "Thank you", and headed off along the beach for Nikeah.  
  
Along the way, Locke found a small bird dragging its wing along the shoreline. He knelt down and scooped it up. "Easy there little fella.." Locke stroked the bird with one hand and put a makeshift bandana sling around its injured wing.  
  
"There ya go." It chirped as Locke put it down and continued his treck.  
  



	2. Terra

After The Fall Part 2: Terra  
Miranda Shadowind

Terra looked around, slightly dazed. "Where am I?" None of her friends were in sight. "Sabin? Locke? Cyan?"  
  
Saddened, Terra looked around for any signs of life. Up ahead was a severely damaged town, so she ran toward it. A burnt sign lay on the ground. She could just barely make out "Mobliz".  
  
"THIS is Mobliz?!" Terra couldn't believe it. Only four burnt buildings were still standing, one of which was half underwater. "Hello? Is anyone here?"  
  
10 heads appeared from two of the 3 dry houses, 8 of which were those of small children. The other two Terra recognized as teenagers Duane and Katarin. There was no sign of adults anywhere...  
  
"Mama?" a confused girl asked as the group approached Terra.  
  
Terra smiled faintly yet confusedly, then turned to Duane. "What happened here? Where are all the adults?"  
  
"Big light come from sky! Mama and Papa go bye-bye..." a boy sniffled.  
  
Duane slowly nodded. "Kefka's 'Light of Judgement' hit our town HARD. The adults all perished protecting their children.."  
  
"Poor things..." Terra knelt down by the little boy and brushed a few tears away. Instinctively, he hugged her tight. Terra blinked, feeling something stir deep within, but she wasn't sure what..  
  
"Mama!" the other seven children cried, feeling better. 


	3. Celes

After the Fall Part 3: Celes  
Miranda Shadowind

Celes blinked and opened one eye. The last thing she'd seen was Locke yelling out her name as she slipped from his grasp and fell from the crashing Blackjack. Now she was staring up at the rafters of a strange shack..  
  
"Uhhh..." she murmered. She opened her other eye and looked to her right. Cid, the Magitek scientist who'd raised her back at the Empire, was at a desk writing something. "Cid?" Celes sat up in bed, a little groggy.  
  
"Eh? Celes you're finally awake! It's a miracle!" Cid got up and ran to her side, wheezing.  
  
"I feel like I've been sleeping forever!"  
  
"A year to be exact. I've been looking after you since you and a few others washed up on this tiny island after the world fell apart," Cid replied.  
  
"Others? Where are my friends? Where's Locke?"  
  
"I only recognized you. The other people who washed ashore died from dispair or trying to swim away to the mainland.."  
  
Celes started crying. "He's gone...Everyone's gone..." Cid put an arm around her, but she didn't seem to notice or care. Locke, the one man she truly cared for, that had vowed to keep her safe, was dead.  
  
"But we have each other. You've always been like the granddaughter I never had.." Cid said softly, trying to comfort Celes.  
  
Celes sniffled and looked at Cid. "My long-lost Granddad.." She got out of bed and hugged him tight. He wheezed again. "Are you sick?"  
  
"Yes...*coughwheeze*..I started getting sick a few days ago when I skipped meals.."  
  
"You poor thing, get in bed! What shall I get you?"  
  
Cid smiled and did as he was told. "Well, if I ask for anything besides fish I won't get fed!" He laughed but immediately started coughing again as Celes headed out towards the shore.  
  
Several fish were swimming close by. Celes took off her cloak and used it as a makeshift net to catch them. When she had caught enough, she brought them back to the house for supper.  
  
This went on for a few days, but Cid wasn't getting much better. As Celes left his side to go fishing, he grabbed her by the cloak weakly. "Wait...*hackcough*"  
  
"What is it, Granddad?" Celes turned around, concerned.  
  
"I don't think...I'm going...to make it...raft...basement...good...bye.." With those final words, Cid closed his eyes and died.  
  
"Granddad NO! Stop joking!" Celes shook his limp body, but to no avail. "Not you too!" She started to cry and ran out of the house.  
  
As she ran, Celes remembered the second-to-last time someone close to her had died: General Leo. Locke had been there to hold her close and comfort her. Now he was gone..  
  
Celes headed for the far side of the island, recalling something Cid had told her the day before. That a lot of the other castaways had climbed up the big cliff there and taken a leap of faith. "Perked 'em right up," Cid had said.  
  
But to be "perked right up" wasn't what Celes wanted at all as she ascended the hill. All she wanted was to die and join her friends and family.  
  
She raised her head to the sky, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'm coming, Locke...wait for me..."  
  
With that, Celes ran to the cliff's edge, then leaped off, tears flying as she fell. She landed face-down half in the surf and waited. Nothing. Hoping to at least drown herself, Celes kept her head down half in the water until she heard chirping.  
  
Beside her was a bird, much like the ones used to send messages. A VERY familar dark blue bandana was tied around its wing as a makeshift sling. Seeing this, Celes quickly sat up and untied the bandana, stroking it gingerly.  
  
"He's alive...Locke's alive..!" Her tears of pain turned to joy as she clutched the bandana tight and turned to the bird that had given her the sign. "Hey you! Is the person who healed you still alive? Where is he?!" The bird only chirped as it flew away.  
  
Celes' hope was returning. If Locke was alive and well, surely so were the other Returners! She had to get off the island and look for them! Celes tried to remember Cid's last words as she re-entered the shack.  
  
On his desk was an envelope. She opened it and found a letter inside. It read the following:  
  
Dear Celes, If you are reading this, then I must have passed on. You need to leave this island,surely the others are waiting for you! Downstairs I have built a sturdy raft you can use. I had hoped that we both could have used it together, but obviously that won't happen.Thanks for all you've done.  

    
    
    Love,
    Granddad

Sniffling a little, Celes pocketed the letter and ran down the half-hidden basement steps. A quick look around produced the raft Cid had mentioned in his letter.  
  
Celes carefully dragged it up, out, and onto the beach. As she shoved off using a long branch, she whispered, "I'll make you proud, Granddad.."  



	4. Sabin

After the Fall Part 4: Sabin  
Miranda Shadowind

Sabin Figaro cursed Kefka as he wandered down the streets of Albrook, the place where he'd landed when the world had blown up. All that training with Duncan at Mt. Koltz was finally paying off. He wondered if Edgar and/or any of the other Returners had survived as well..  
  
"Hey, you seen an old man, two kids, and some other people around my age?" Sabin asked a young woman passing by.  
  
"Why? Are they friends of yours?" was the reply.  
  
"Hell yeah, and one of them's my brother!"  
  
"Oh! Hmmm...there WAS a young man about your age that stopped here briefly from Nikeah, then headed north...Looked like a regular rogue, but seemed real depressed about something.."  
  
Sabin blinked. "That's Locke! Thanks!" He bought a few supplies, then took off for Tzen. Creaming Kefka would be difficult to accomplish alone, but if he could catch up with his best friend before he (Locke) left the continent, together they had a fighting chance.  
  
There were newer, uglier monsters abound on the grassless plain, but Sabin made short work of them. But when he reached Tzen, Locke was long gone.  
  
"What's he up to now?" Sabin pondered out loud. But before he could think it further, there was a blinding flash of light and a power surge that sent him right into the side of a house. "The hell?!"  
  
"Kefka's 'Light of Judgement' is upon us!" someone yelled out in the confusion.  
  
"Someone help! My little boy's trapped!" a woman screamed. Sabin peeled himself off of the house and ran over to where he'd heard the yelling. One of the houses was on the verge of collapse!  
  
Sabin put his back to the house and lifted a main crossbeam across his shoulders. "I can hold this place up if someone else goes in," he told the panicky mother. "Who-"  
  
"Sabin!" a familar voice cut him off. Sabin looked up and found Celes staring back at him.  
  
"Celes!" He gestured as best he could toward the doorway. "Hurry, there's a kid trapped down there!"  
  
"What about you?" Celes asked.  
  
"I'm the only thing holding this place up! I move, it'll collapse!"  
  
Celes nodded and dashed into the crumbling house. Sabin grunted and shifted his weight. Holding up a house was easier said than done, even for him.  
  
Just when he thought the house would come down on all three of them, Celes ran out with the boy in her arms. "Bout bloody time!" Sabin let go of the beam and quickly rolled away as the house caved into a mess of splintering wood.  
  
"Sabin, I can't believe you're alive!" Celes cried, returning the boy to his mother, who thanked the duo.  
  
Sabin laughed. "What, did you think a little thing like the end of the world was going to do me in?!"  
  
Celes giggled. "C'mon, we've got work to do!"  
  
"I know, I know. We find the others, smash Kefka, and deliver peace unto the world!" Celes nodded, and they headed for the chocobo stable.  
  
That done, they pondered where to head next...(Locke could be anywhere by now, and tracking him on news alone would prove useless.) Just then, they overheard the now-homeless woman conversing with a neighbor.  
  
"This is just like what happened to Mobliz," the neighbor commented, shaking her head.  
  
"Kefka fried them too?!" asked the surprised mother.  
  
"Yes, but more than just a house. The whole town was blasted nearly to the ground! All the adults perished protecting their children.."  
  
Celes gasped. This in mind, she and Sabin headed for Mobliz (or what was left of it), hoping to find survivors.  



	5. Phunbaba

After the Fall Part 5: Phunbaba  
Miranda Shadowind

Two days later, Celes and Sabin arrived at a devistated, half-baked excuse for a village. "This is Mobliz?!" Sabin couldn't believe it.  
  
He and Celes dismounted and walked around. Dogs started barking, and a little boy peered at the travelers from a doorway. "Someone's coming!" he cried, and ran back indoors.  
  
"Hey wait!" Celes called out, and headed for that house, Sabin close behind.  
  
The inside of the place was like a converted cavern. The four beds from the inn were on a raised portion of the floor, where several children wandered about. The boy from earlier noticed their arrival and blocked the doorway across from the entrance.  
  
"You'll have to get through me first!" he yelled.  
  
"But we're-" Celes started.  
  
"STOP!" a familar female voice cried from behind the door. The boy stepped aside as the door opened and Terra walked out. She put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "It's OK, these are my friends!"  
  
"Terra!" cried Sabin and Celes. Terra ran over and hugged them.  
  
"It's so good to see you again! I missed you!"  
  
"You comin' with us, Terra? We're going to smash Kefka!" Sabin asked.  
  
"You can't take Terra away from us!" Dwayne, another survivor, yelled.  
  
"Cool it Dwayne!" Katarin scolded.  
  
"I...I can't..." Terra said finally.   
  
"Say what?" asked Celes, blinking. Terra led her friends into the other room.  
  
"By the time I got here, all the adults had perished protecting their children. They needed me... When they called me 'Mama', I felt something stir inside me, but I don't know what. The more I struggled to understand what's happening to me, the more I lost my will to fight. I'm of no used to you now..." Terra looked down.  
  
Celes slowly nodded. "It's all right..."  
  
"Terra's kept our spirit up since she came," Katarin explained as Celes and Sabin turned to leave. "It wouldn't be the same without her.."  
  
Just then, the oldest boy rushed in. "Run, Phunbaba's back!"  
  
Terra now had a look of panic on her face as loud thumping noises were heard outside. It quickly vanished as she pushed past a surprised Sabin and ran out the door.  
  
Just off the shore was a huge, ugly green monster with devilish horns. Phunbaba. Terra shot several fire spells at him, but they didn't make a dent. She resorted to sword attacks, but they were clumsier than usual. Finally, Phunbaba got tired of this and batted Terra away like an angry housewife swatting an insect. Sabin caught her just before she hit the half-submerged house.  
  
Angered, he carried her unconscious body inside and into bed. Celes narrowed her eyes and marched outside, Sabin right behind her. A few spells and Blitzes later, Phunbaba took off, but not for good.  
  
Later back in the house, Terra woke up, weaker than ever. She sat up a little and saw Celes and Sabin at her bedside, as well as the children. "I've really lost my fighting edge...I'm so sorry..."  
  
Celes shook her head. "It's not your fault, Terra.."  
  
"No..If only I could understand what's happening to me I could protect the children..." She then fell asleep again.  
  
Celes and Sabin shook their heads and left, chastised by a boy who said that they "would pay if anything happen[ed] to Mama." They journeyed south, rented two chocobos in a forest stable, and headed toward Nikeah.  



	6. Gerad or Edgar?

After the Fall Part 6: Gerad or Edgar?  
Miranda Shadowind

Author's note: The actions labeled either Gerad or Edgar pertain to whether Edgar is acting like his normal self or playing theif king.  
  
"Why am I doing this?!" Gerad grumbled to himself as he sat among the Crimson Robbers, a band of theives he led.  
  
Their verbal retelling of their escape from the now sunken Figaro Castle reminded him. He was in reality King Edgar Figaro and needed to help his trapped people. Unfortunately this was the only way to reach them..  
  
Edgar remembered meeting up with the escaped prisoners the week before. Until then they had had no leader, for he had been eaten by sandworms en route to the surface. Knowing this might be the only way for him to get his castle back, Edgar had disguised himself as Gerad the theif and become their leader. The time for departure was drawing near...  
  
"I'll be back soon..." Gerad called to the others as he headed out of the café and into Nikeah's marketplace.   
  
Edgar remembered back when he, Sabin, and Locke were younger, and all the mischief they'd gotten into. For example, Locke wouldn't wait to be announced when he visited. Instead, he would find new ways to sneak into the castle. Trying to figure out where he'd pop out of next was always a riot.  
  
In fact, the survival skills Edgar had learned from Locke were partially what had kept him (Edgar) alive all this time. Edgar pondered if his best friend was still around, he sure could have used his help on this.  
  
"Edgar!" yelled a male voice. Gerad turned around to find Celes and Sabin standing before him.  
  
"Excuse me?" As glad as Edgar was to see his brother and friend alive, there were a few Crimson Robbers in the marketplace. If he greeted Sabin and Celes with open arms now, he'd blow his cover.  
  
"Don't you recognize us Edgar, or have you somehow lost your memory?" asked Celes, shocked.  
  
"We're all ready to go Boss!" Gerad's second in command told him.  
  
Edgar quietly sighed in relief, grateful for the distraction. "Good! We're off then!" The robber left to gather the others, and Gerad turned to Celes. "For your information, my lady, my name has always been Gerad. I know nothing of this 'Edgar' you speak of."  
  
"Only Edgar would say 'my lady'" Celes commented as Gerad walked away. He turned around and shook his finger at her.  
  
"The words 'my lady' are used world-wide!" Gerad headed to the docks and boarded a ship, followed by the Crimson Robbers. Determined not to lose him, Celes and Sabin snuck aboard just as the ship headed for South Figaro.  



	7. Figaro

After the Fall Part 7: Figaro  
Miranda Shadowind  
It was dusk of the next day when the Crimson Robbers' ship reached South Figaro. Gerad and his cronies got off and headed for the inn, Sabin and Celes at their heels.  
  
(Soon, inside the inn..)  
  
"Let us in!" Celes yelled at the robber in front of Gerad's door.  
  
"No one's allowed to see the Boss but us Crimson Robbers!" the robber snapped back.  
  
Celes was about to draw the Atama Weapon, but Sabin pushed her aside. "Have it your way then!" Sabin pummel Blitzed the robber so hard he went flying into the far wall. Celes cringed, then quickly followed Sabin into Gerad's room as the robber slid down the wall into a heap.  
  
Gerad, who had heard the scuffle outside, glared at them. "You two again?!"  
  
"Enough with the cherade, Edgar! Fess up!" demanded Celes.  
  
"For the last time I have no idea who you're talking about! My name is, always has been, and always will be Gerad!" He then left the room in a huff and headed downstairs, followed by the recovering robber.  
  
Outside of town, the Crimson Robbers and Ziegfreid entered their "secret cave."  
  
"Secret cave nothing! This is Figaro Cave!" Sabin thought out loud as he and Celes slipped in after them.  
  
"Hush or they'll know we're here!" hissed Celes, a finger on her lips.  
  
Ziegfreid noticed them, but although he knew nothing of their arguements with Gerad, he half-recognized Sabin as the muscle-bound man who had clobbered him on the Phantom Train. He would extract his revenge later though. First and foremost on his mind was that treasure...  
  
"There's a lot of monsters up ahead. I'll clear 'em out, you wait here," Ziegfreid told them, and ran to catch up with Gerad and the others.  
  
"Riiiiight!" Sabin said sarcastically, tailing the ignoramous.  
  
Little resistance was found as he and Celes made their way through the decrepit and reformed cavern. "This is more like Locke's sort of thing.." Sabin thought to himself.  
  
He'd purposely not told Celes that the sneaky treasure hunter was still alive since he (Locke) was Godesses only knew where now. That and the familiar dark blue bandana around her neck, which told him she already knew.  
  
Gerad turned to his second in command as the group came to a room with a recovery spring. To its left was a rather large gaping hole that only Celes recognized as the way the Imperial Tunnelarmor had entered and attacked her and Locke over a year ago. "You there, you know of the secret passage do you not?"  
  
"Yes sir Boss!" The robber went over to the edge of the spring and held out a handfull of food. "Here boy!" A big turtle swam over to him and began to eat the food greedily. "Good boy!" With that, the robber dropped the rest of the food onto the shore, leaped onto the turtle's back, then to the opposite side of the cavern.  
  
"I had a turtle once..." Edgar quietly reflected as he and the other Crimson Robbers followed suit and headed into the room beyond. Sabin and Celes lept across just as the turtle was finishing its snack.  
  
Celes looked back for a moment before continuing on. She could almost see her younger self and Locke drinking from the spring to heal their wounds after the Tunnelarmor had been defeated. Stroking the bandana around her neck in an effort of self-comfort, Celes turned around and ran to catch up.  
  
The passage beyond was a small maze of tunnelwork with a bright light coming from the other end. Further investigation proved the light's source to be the torchlit dungeon of Castle Figaro. Sabin and Celes stayed hidden in the cell leading back to the cavern, listening in on a conversation between Edgar and a guard.  
  
"Are you all right? You were hit pretty hard," they heard Edgar ask.  
  
"I-it was awful.." the guard moaned before passing out.  
  
Edgar nodded and headed upstairs. Once he was out of sight, Celes and Sabin came out of hiding and followed him. The main door leading to the courtyard was sealed shut, by sand no doubt, so they ventured down to the control room.  
  
The man who controlled the castle's submerge/travel mode was out cold, so they quietly slipped past him and down more stairs to the castle basement. Celes let Sabin take the lead at this point, given he knew the castle inside and out from childhood.  
  
In the engine room, Gerad and the Crimson Robbers surveyed the situation. Hundreds of little tentacles and 4 large ones had entangled themselves in the machinery.  
  
"Go in there and get that treasure!" Gerad ordered, pointing to the door that lay beyond the mess.  
  
"But Boss, you'll be killed!" yelled a robber.  
  
"Nevermind me, get in there while I handle this thing!" The Crimson Robbers were more than happy to obilge. Then, Sabin and Celes came out of hiding.  
  
"Edgar!" yelled the latter, panting.  
  
"Well, what are you waiting for Celes?" Edgar asked with a slight smirk. "Let's beat this thing before it beats us!"  
  
Before she or Sabin could respond, Celes was snatched up by one of the tentacles. "LET GO OF ME!" She struggled to free herself, only to be squeezed tighter.  
  
Enraged, Edgar pulled out his chainsaw and started spinning around, hacking at the vile thing. It finally released Celes as it crashed to the floor, dead. Sabin managed to catch her before she could land on top of it.  
  
"Thanks," she said as he put her down. The remaining 3 tentacles were dispatched by a series of slices, dices, and Blitzes. The smaller tentacles then disappeared with them.  
  
"So what happened, Brother?" Sabin asked.  
  
"I heard that those bandits had escaped from the dungeon and that the castle'd had an accident. I used them to get here and solve the problem," Edgar explained. "Shh, here they come!"  
  
The trio hid behind some machinery as the Crimson Robbers came out of the treasure room, sacks loaded. The second-in-command looked around. "Guess that thing got the boss after all..." The robbers looked at each other, then ran off in a panic. Celes and the twins came out laughing once they were all gone.  
  
"Aren't you going to stop them Edgar?" asked Sabin.  
  
"Nah, that treasure's not worth crap. They missed the really good stuff," Edgar replied as they entered the looted room. All that was left was several empty chests surrounding a suit of armor. Edgar pulled the Soul Saber free from its grasp.  
  
Back at the control room, Edgar had taken off his thief's jacket, revealing the royal robes of Figaro underneath. "Going up!" yelled the recovering controlsman. He grunted and threw the switch. Within minutes, Figaro Castle resurfaced.  
  
A small feast was prepared in honor of the twins' return and the vanquishing of the terrible tentacle. The next morning, the castle went underground again. Its destination: Kohlingen.   



End file.
